In one important respect the English publisher differs from the producer of almost every other class of goods. lie has not only to manufacture the article, but to make it known to the public. While the retail draper takes upon himself the trouble and cost of advertising his novelties in order to attract customers, the retail bookseller is relieved from any such obligation, and has little else to do than to 'hand across the counter the book. for which a demand has been stimulated by the costly efforts of the publisher. The grand difficulty with the publisher is to excite general attention to his wares. Bence, the stupendous advertising system in newspapers and other channels of intelli gence. Some publishers are reported to spend as much as £5000 per annum on adver tisements. and an expenditure of from £1000 to £2000 is quite common. The monthly and quarterly periodicals being important advertising channels, it is of consequence to publishers to possess one of these, both for the sake of the revenue it may produce, and for keeping their own books before the public. A well-circulated periodical, therefore, is to be viewed as almost a necessity in the business of the publisher—the thing which gives spring and vitality to what might be otherwise an inert and difficult concern. So grave a matter is advertising to the publisher, that it is very generally the practice to employ one or more clerks to write, arrange, and distribute advertisements, and to con duct the multifarious correspondence connected with them. In consequence of these burdensome outlays, and other causes, including the liberal distribution of copies of books for review, the prices affixed to original works are necessarily higher than the actual amount of paper and print would seem to warrant. Books, as has been said, are subscribed for among the booksellers of the principal cities; but booksellers in the coun try towns either send for supplies by letter, or give their orders to travelers employed by the chief houses. Between the couutry booksellers and the leading publishers in London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, there is kept up a continual correspondence. In addi tion to his daily or weekly parcel, every provincial bookseller makes np a monthly order for magazines, periodicals, and books; and the collecting for monthly parcels forms one of the remarkable phenomena of the How. The day of making up, called "magazine day," is the last, or last but one, of the month, when periodicals for the succeeding mouth are collected and dispatched. In receiving and forwarding of inclosures by these monthly parcels, there prevails a spirit of mutual accommodation, which is exceedingly com mendable. and without which, indeed, a large portion of the book-trade would be at a stand. By means of inclosures, booksellers in the most distant parts of the country are able to procure small supplies from different publishers at a trifling charge for carriage— with what result of convenience to the public need not be dwelt upon. The execution of foreign orders, is, of course, comprehended in the business of the publisher. Pub lishers formerly took but little account of the demand likely to arise for their books from abroad, but now they frequently print an extra number of copies for export to the United States. Canada, and Australia. Previous to the internecine war in the United States, American publishers were in the constant habit of seizing upon popular English copyright books, and reprinting them in a cheap form suitable for their own market, waich included Canada and several other British colonies. As nothing was pant to the author, hooks so printed were sold at prices against which the English publisher found it impossible to compete; he therefore withdrew in disgust, and left the colonnial mar ket to be supplied with " pirated editions." The protective system in vogue in the United States largely assists in maintaining the high cost of production in America. of books as well as other things. This, in connection with the greater literary fecundity of the old country, enables a large export trade iu books to be done with the Americans. The Canada copyright act, too (38 and 39 Viet., c. 83), provides for the republishing or reprinting of F.nglisli books in Canada; so that, notwithstanding the absence of any international copyright treaty, it is probable that in the coum of a few years most mod ern English books read in any part of America will be such as are either printed here, or are reprinted there by arrangement with the English publisher or author.
The plan of issuing neat cheap editions of popular works, was struck out a hundred years ago (1760-70) by Alexander Donaldson, an Edinburgh bookseller above referred to,* anil was followed up by several publishers in London, one of whom, C. Cooke, of Paternoster row (1790-1S00), issued an extensive series of cheap reprints, of a pocket size, called Cooke's Editions, which for tastefulness of preparation have never been excelled. In the early years of the present century, Suttaby's, Sharpe's, Walker's, and Dove's pocket editions, were stock articles in the trade. About 1817-18 some enterpris ing booksellers began to break through certain old usages of the trade, by issuing reprints of standard works, in a good style of typography, at considerably reduced prices. At the same time, numerous cheap periodicals made their appearance; but these, for the most part, were of so seditious, irreligious, and libellous a character, that the law inter posed to check the growing evil, by the act GO Geo. III., and 1 Geo. IV. c. 9. Sec NEWSPAPERS. Those cheap unstamped periodicals which appeared during the next ten years, were only tolerated when, eschewing news and politics, they confined themselves strictly to matters of instruct:on or amusement. The only one that attained to perman ent success was the Mirror, an illustrated weekly sheet. Svo size, projected by John Limbird in London, the first number of which appeared Nov. 22,1822. When, therefore, in 1827, the society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge began to issue its low-priced scien tific treatises—and when, in the same year, Archibald Constable commenced the cheap series of works in original literature, called Constable's Miscellany—the public were already in some measure familiar with a certain class of cheap books. Yet, viewing all previous enterprises of this kind as fitful and insufficient, as well as unsupported by any breadth of appreciation, we, have to refer to this period (1827-32) for the true origin of what is now designated the "cheap press." Constable's attempt to cheapen literature was happily coincident with a general awakening in the public mind, and proved emi nently successful; imitations followed; a variety of serial works, in small volumes, for popular use made their appearance. A similar popularizing of the price of periodicals was the next step in advance. Several cheap sheets of an entertaining nature were issued, similar to Limbird's Mirror, though more resembling a newspaper in shape, but for various reasons most of them soon disappeared. At this juncture, taking advantage of the growing demand for cheap literature, and desirous of guiding it in a right direc tion, William and Hobert Chambers, of Edinburgh, began, on the 4th of Feb., 1832, to issue Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, a weekly sheet at 1id.; on the 31st of Mar. following appeared in London the Penny Magazine of the society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; and July 7th, this was followed by the Saturday Magazine, which was issued under the direction of a committee of the society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. So many cheap publications of various kinds followed, that it would be impossible to particularize them in this brief sketch. The efforts to establish a cheap press were much facilitated by two great inventions—the paper-making machine and the printing-machine, both of which had been introduced within the precediny twenty years. The continued issue of cheap reprints of popular works out of copyright has greatly changed the aspect of the trade; and although works at old prices are as numerous as ever, cheap books of an improving tendency are now placed within general reach. By the enterprise of certain publishers, new and copyright works are also now issued in a cheap form, in boards, with colored paper covers—the prices of these neat and handy volumes being from ls. to 2s. 6d. each. The trade iu this class of books, and in cheap periodicals and newspapers, has been largely developed by railways. On the platforms of all the chief termini and stations, there are stalls for the sale of books, periodicals, and newspapers. These stalls, consisting of a counter and some which can be closed in with shutters at night, are rented from the railway companies by different booksellers, from whose head establishments supplies ceaselessly radiate. One firm, in Aug., 1878, had 045 stalls. A London publisher was recently able to announce that in the twelve months preceding he had printed five millions of book.